Happy Birthday, Shika Kun
by RubyBelle
Summary: Shikamaru wants to stay away from the used to be surprise party and relax, alone, on his birthday, but Ino shatters those plans. [T, ShikaIno, my tribute to my dearest Shikamaru on his BDay, please comment, I’m lonely and I need critique. ONEshot.]


Yay! It's not midnight just yet! C8

Happy birthday, Shikamaru!! You're 22 now! 8D

* * *

"_Shikamaruuu_!"

Shikamaru winced when he recognized the soprano voice that sang out over the hills. He stayed quiet, desperate for the peace and quiet that _had_ occupied the space between him and the sky.

"_Shikaaa_! _Maruuu_!"

_Stay quiet, stay quiet,_ Shikamaru repeated the words in his mind, wondering also if she would leave after a moment of no response. Sadly, yet still pleasantly, she did quite the opposite.

"Okay, Shikamaru! We both know you're here, and if you don't answer right now, I swear I will start singing the 'happy birthday' song right here and now!"

Shikamaru sat up, grimacing. The loud, high-pitched, delicate gasp signaled the blonde's discovery, and the quick jingling of metal beads bouncing off of each other made Shikamaru visualize her running.

"Shikamaru, I _knew_ you were here!" She sang out, her voice excited and delightful—an extreme from the threatening tone she had just taken on a few moments ago. "Why were you hiding?"

Shikamaru laid back down, crossing his arms behind his head. "Guess," He said, keeping his voice low. The jangling of beads stopped beside him as the blonde sat.

"Umm…" Ino paused, placing a slender finger on her bottom lip. After a moment, she smiled and shrugged, saying, "I don't really care!" Her voice suddenly turned business-like, her face wiping of all emotion—well, not really. It still had that spark of excitement in the background. "All that matters is that _today is your birthday_!"

Shikamaru sat up again, shushing Ino. "_Be quiet_!" He hissed, glancing around him. "_Don't say that_!"

Ino giggled, crossing her legs—Shikamaru blushed slightly. Why did she always have to wear skirts? "I thought guys only stated to worry about their age when they turn _thirty-five_, not _nineteen_!" She giggled again, finding Shikamaru's franticness hilarious. He found her giggliness irritating and attractive at the same time, then cursed himself for the latter.

Shikamaru frowned. "Well, you don't have almost the entire town awaiting your arrival back in town," He said, grimacing, remembering Naruto's outlandish promise to hold a massive surprise—well, not anymore—party back at town on his birthday. Instead of awaiting the day of his birth, he began to dread it, counting down the days in horror. He had tried to spend the entire day inside, but his parents kept trying to coax him out. Finally unable to stand it, he ran away from the town for this one day, hiding out in his special, secret hiding place— but, apparently, it wasn't as secret as he thought, being as Ino found him here.

Ino giggled again. "Well, I would _want_ that, silly!" She smiled, flashing her porcelain teeth. Shikamaru blushed slightly again. "Birthdays are big things! You're supposed to be happy and excited on them!"

Shikamaru frowned—she didn't know him, did she? "Not me," He said, keeping his voice blank and even. "Hate 'em."

Ino frowned. "You're so negative, Shikamaru!" She whined, plunging forward and pounding her small delicate fists on his chest. Shikamaru stared down at her, staggered. Finally, after a moment of useless beating, he grabbed her hands and pulled her away, horrified at the way his heart fluttered at the touch.

"No, you're just too optimistic, Ino," He breathed, aggravated at both himself and her. "Now, can you _please_ go back and tell them that I _don't want a party_?"

Ino frowned, glaring into Shikamaru's eyes; blue into black. "No," She said after a moment. "I don't think I will. In fact, I think I'll stay right here."

Shikamaru growled, irritated. He dropped her hands, turning his back to her. "Ino, you _do_ know that I'm not _exciting_? You'll probably have more _fun _back at Kohona," Shikamaru winced inwardly at the realization that she probably would choose Kohona.

To his surprise and pleasure, she shook her head and said, "Nope," When Shikamaru looked up, he noticed that she looked utterly sincere and final in her decision. "I wanna find out why cloud-watching is so _fun_ to you!"

Shikamaru stared at her, incredulous. Ino, wanting to watch _clouds_? Did she start drugs or stop them? Was this truly Ino? Or, was this a sick joke that Naruto had planned—he knew as well as Shikamaru did about his strange attraction to Ino's every movements. As Shikamaru pondered over these questions, he asked one of them. "Are you really Ino?"

Ino grinned, finding the question funny. Shikamaru's inner self blushed unrelentingly, being as his outer self had to be constantly bored and uncaring, at the smile. "Of _course_ I am, Shikamaru!" She giggled, uncrossing her legs and laying back. Shikamaru, still trying to act bored and uncaring, laid back also, scowling at his heart when it thumped louder at the inch space between the two.

"What brought this on?" Shikamaru asked after a moment. Not that he minded…

Ino smiled a little. "You're always so _distant_…I already knew that I wouldn't be able to drag you back there when I went looking for you, but I thought that maybe," She sighed, her hand centimeting closer to his hand—an unconscious movement. "I could unravel the mysterious workings of your mind today."

Shikamaru's inner self blushed as his outer self stared at her. How did she get so…_smart_? He felt guilty, thinking the word, but nothing else could fit the sudden change from her usual ditzy style—now she was like…like _him_. And, when did she decide that she wanted to know more about Shikamaru—boring and uncaring Shikamaru, the Shikamaru she'd known for almost her entire life, _Shikamaru_. Why did she have a sudden interest?

Ino's head suddenly twisted to the side, looking at Shikamaru. Her wide, blue eyes stared into his again, the difference in color amazing. Her full lips were twisted upwards in a slight smile, but her eyes were confused—almost as if she didn't know what she was looking at when she stared into Shikamaru's own black eyes. Shikamaru, fearing it was a hint of the attraction he was feeling, tried to keep his face expressionless. Ino's eyes became even more confused when Shikamaru thought that he was successful in his goal—a hint that he truly was.

Shikamaru's hand twitched, itching to grab Ino's. To help fight the uncontrollable urge, he pulled it underneath his body, pressing his weight down on it. "Why do you care—or, now, at least," He asked, breaking the silence. "You've known me for forever—why should you be trying to figure me out?"

Ino's smile grew. "Because it's only been recently that my Shika-kun has changed so much," She said simply. Inner Shikamaru blushed at the use of her childhood nickname for him. "Well…not recently, but it's become a drastic once recently."

Shikamaru frowned—she was talking about when he realized that her every word, her every expression, her _everything_ attracted him. He had acted more distant, afraid that he would make the wrong move. And, now, because he was an adult, his mind had moved on past his teenage obsession, and into his adult fantasies. Because of those strong, irresistible urges to grab her and kiss her in the middle of the street came more frequently and stronger, he kept his distance even more—one wrong move, one slip, and who knows where their oh-so-delicate friendship would end up? He didn't enjoy it, but he had to do it. If not for him, for Ino. That was his mantra for him; the reminder that told him to keep it up.

Ino's smile suddenly disappeared, her eyes unreadable. Shikamaru fought for his mask again, afraid that the realization of just how obsessed he was of her was being shown on his face. But, the unreadable emotion was not fear or shock—it held something along the lines of passion; something Shikamaru had seen in her eyes whenever she spoke up about something she loved deeply about. That, and amazement.

Inner Shikamaru's blush grew fiercer, fearing the worst.

"Shikamaru," Ino said after a while, her eyes boring into Shikamaru's. Her voice was careful, soft and low. "What…did you want for your birthday?"

Shikamaru felt relived at this new topic of conversation. At least it wasn't a question of if he loved her or not—he had no idea what he would say to _that_.

"Nothing, really," Shikamaru said, sighing. He still gazed at Ino's face—he wasn't about to break the invisible connection between them. "I'm not too fond of people giving me presents when I can very easily go without them." His inner self scolded him for lying—but they both knew that what he really wanted, he couldn't voice.

Ino laughed—Shikamaru's heart fluttered irritatingly at the sound. "Really? What if it was something that you needed?" She opened her eyes and looked at Shikamaru again, her eyes soft and warm. "Not a want, a need. Something your heart yearned for?"

Shikamaru frowned as his inner self blushed. What was she getting at? Did she know his secret? He shuddered at the thought. "Well, if it's not a necessity to my survival, then I don't need it then, do I?" He answered her question with another one.

Ino's smile grew again. "Not for your survival on earth, but your survival in _life_," She stopped, trying to re-word her thoughts. "As in, you don't need it to live, but you might as well die without it."

Shikamaru sat up, unwillingly breaking the connection. She was figuring out too much, he knew that. At the very least, he would have to become expressionless again. Or leave. Not wanting to resort to the latter, Shikamaru struggled for his mask.

After a long moment, Ino sat up also, the metal beads jingling against each other and her blond hair flowing up off the grass. She shook her head slightly, trying to get the dirt out of her hair, then crossed her legs, leaning forward. Shikamaru realized that she was copying his own posture. But, more than that, he noticed that their knees were touching.

"Shikamaru, do you know what _I _would want for my birthday?" Ino asked after a long minute. Shikamaru struggled to re-collect his thoughts—they were all focusing on the knee area of his body. When he realized what she was speaking about, he hummed a questioning _Hmmm_?

Ino turned her head abruptly, her long blond hair twirling in the air, her eyes soft, warm and loving. A smile was on her perfect, full lips and torso was twisted towards Shikamaru, hands on the ground, bust unconsciously pushed out. The way her body and face were composed made the urge to make his fantasies _reality_ almost hurt Shikamaru. His mind couldn't focus on her words—it was too busy struggling against the scenes that flashed in his mind.

"_You_," Ino said, her voice almost a whisper.

Before Shikamaru could regain his thoughts, she was on him, her hands pressed against his chest, her lips an inch away from his. Her knees were still on the grass beside Shikamaru, only her upper half hovering over him. Shikamaru's hands, without thinking, flew to her back, pushing her closer to him, so that her body was pressed against his. She pressed her lips against his, parting them slightly, her tongue tracing his lips. Shikamaru's entire body twitched with the uncontrollable urge to roll over, _him_ on top of _her_, but he didn't, knowing that this was probably as good as it was going to get. He opened his mouth slightly also, his tongue skimming across Ino's.

Ino lifted her face an inch, her breathing as ragged—if not weaker—than Shikamaru's. "Happy birthday, Shika-kun," She whispered.

Shikamaru smiled. The last words he whispered in response before he kissed her again were, "Damn right."


End file.
